Multi-purpose cleaning and washing cloth



Feb. 16, 1965 w. WALKER MULTI-PURPOSE CLEANING AND WASHING CLOTH FiledApril 9, 1964 F IG. 2

A A v ((0. 4 4 9 1 000000000 40000000 w w w o o ooo m QQQQQ. 2 -30 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 4 IN V EN TOR. WAYNE L. WALKER ATTORNEY United States Patent3,169,264 MULTi-PURPOSE CLEANING AND WASHING CLOTH Wayne L. Walker, 5738N. Detroit Ave., Portland, Oreg,

Filed Apr. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 358,527 1 Claim. (Cl. 15-118) Thisinvention relates in general to cleaning cloths employed for varioushousehold purposes and for similar uses, and also to wash cloths forpersonal use.

More particularly the invention relates to cloths suitable for use asscrubbing and cleaning aids and for various other purposes, includingpersonal use, for which a rough surface and a soft absorbent surface aredesirable.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel composite cloth,suitable for various uses, which will present both a rough, mildlyabrasive surface and a soft absorbent surface.

Heretofore there have been several cleaning cloths and scouring pads onthe market which have had either one or both faces coated with abrasiveelements, such for example as particles of hard, water-insolubleplastic, firmly secured to the strands in the cloth. While such abrasivecloths 'or scouring pads are quite efilcient in removing firmly adheringdirt by attrition, it is then necessary to use a second cloth or spongefor Washing the scoured surface and taking up the removed dirt. Aparticular object of the present invention is to provide a compositecleaning cloth which will accomplish both operations, namely thescouring or scrubbing action and the washing and dirt absorbing actionat the same time, thus saving time by erforming two operations in one.

Another fault found with several abrasively surfaced scouring cloths andpads heretofore has been that they are hard on the hands and ofteninjurious to the finger nails of the user. A further object of thisinvention is to provide an improved cleaning and washing cloth whichwill not only not have this objectionable feature but which also will beso soft and pliable and non-injurious to the skin that it will servevery satisfactorily as a scrubbing wash cloth for personal use, forexample as a substitute for bath scrubbing brush, or for removing greasestains from the hands.

Some scouring pads and cloths have a tendency to retain some of the dirtthemselves with the result that they become unclean and odorous and needto be discarded before they are worn out. An additional object of thepresent invention is to provide a cleaning cloth or scrubbing wash clothwhich can be thoroughly washed and rendered clean and sanitary just asreadily and easily as any ordinary wash cloth.

The manner in which these objects and other advantages are attained withthe cleaning cloth of the present invention and the preferred form inwhich the same is manufactured will be briefly described with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation showing one side of the composite cleaning andwashing cloth with a portion of the near side layer of material tornaway to show the rear side layer;

FIG. 2 is an elevation showing the opposite side and similarly with aportion of the near side layer of material in this figure torn away toshow the other end, in this case, the rear side layer;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1 butdrawn to a considerably larger scale; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevation taken from the same side as FIG. 2,but drawn to the same scale as FIG. 3, with a portion of the rear sidelayer extending beyond the portion of the near side layer for clarity.

3,159,264 Patented Feb. 16, 1965 In brief, the scrubbing wash cloth ofthis invention comprises two' separate layers of different materialsecured together only at the outside border of the composite cloth. Oneof these layers 10 consists of a piece of soft, porous, moderately heavycloth, preferably of cotton, and preferably of the type of material usedfor heavy dish towels, cleaning cloths, etc. This layer of cloth may beof various weaves. It should be very absorbenhcapable of holding anyliquid absorbed, but also releasing absorbed liquid when squeezedsuificiently or wrung out, and consequently easily washed and dried.

The other layer 11 of the composite cloth consists of a mesh formed ofstrong tough threads, preferably of nylon, of suflicient weight toproduce a strong but very pliable mesh with the openings in the meshpreferably slightly larger than the openings in ordinary cotton mosquitonetting. A strong nylon mesh with openings about inch square has beenfound to be very satisfactory.

The two layers 10 and 11 are secured together entirely around the borderedge of the composite cloth but are not secured to gether elsewhere.Preferably this is done with overcast stitching, as indicated at 12 inFIG. 4. However, other means for securing and binding the two layers ofmaterial together around the border may be used. However, it is lessdesirable to have a border binding which would be heavy or much lesspliable than the body portion of the composite cloth, or a borderbinding which would be too slow in drying out when the cloth is not inuse.

As will be readily understood, the mesh itself absorbs or retainspractically no moisture. It provides merely the scrubbing side ormoderately rough and abrasive surface desired for one face of thecomposite cloth. The other r layer 10, being absorbent and capable ofretaining liquid,

serves the-double purpose of washing the surface as it is given themildly abrasive treatment by the mesh and of absorbing water or othercleansing liquid applied to the surface being cleaned together withloosened dirt dissolved, or may be used as an ordinary wash cloth if noscrubbing is required.

The fact that the mesh 11 and the other or backing layer 10 are attachedto each other only at the border allows the sheets to have considerablefreedom of motion with respect to each other. This is important sincethe composite cloth is much more flexible, softer to use, more easilycleaned, and more satisfactory and eflicient in general than would bethe case if the mesh were attached to the backing layer 10 over itsentire extent or even at closely spaced intervals.

While a preferred pattern for the mesh with substantially squareopenings of approximately /a of an inch in size has been illustrated anddescribed it is to be understood that the mesh may be made in variouspatterns with various sizes and shapes of openings and still function asa satisfactory component for this rnulti-purpose cleaning and washingcloth. Other minor modifications would also be possible withoutdeparting from the principle of the invention and it is not intended tolimit the invention otherwise than as set forth in the claim.

I claim:

A composite scrubbing wash cloth consisting of a sheet of strong butvery pliable nylon mesh, having a surface moderately abrasive incharacter with substantially square open spaces approximately of an inchon each side, and a companion sheet of soft, heavy, absorbent cottoncloth, the two sheets being of the same size and being connectedtogether only around their common border so as to enable the two sheetsto have considerable freedom of motion with respect to each other.

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